


Adolescence

by biasedwriting



Category: VIXX
Genre: Angst, Friends With Benefits, Hormones all over the fucking place, Multi, Romance, Slice of Life, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-08-01 07:19:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16280132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biasedwriting/pseuds/biasedwriting
Summary: “What do we have to lose?”That one sentence changed their adolescence. Two awkward teenagers, trying to understand their changing bodies, surroundings, and expectations. They rely on each other to fulfill that desperate void somewhere in their depths.Until its time to grow up.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The general intention of this is to simply look at the awkward adolescent phase again - where everyone looks awkward as hell, hormones are at a high and things seem very complicated. There is no intention to offend.

It is a quiet dinner setting, one would call it a reunion of sorts even. A low-key affair at Haneul’s place. It’s been four years since Minah had set foot in the household having left to pursue her Bachelors degree in a different city. The place is familiar, a little too familiar. The paved path that led to the warm house, now lit up with fairy lights. Haneul’s choice, Minah deduced, her footsteps audible in the silent evening, a soft breeze making the leaves of the trees around rustle, gently lifting strands of her hair with it.

She’s greeted by Sanghyuk at the door, tackling her into a bear hug before holding her at arm’s length, looking her up and down proudly. Minah finds it odd, seeing Sanghyuk’s face now all grown up after pretty much growing up with him in her house all the time. But there’s a sense of comfort, like nothing had changed about her neighbour at all. After her family had moved out of town, Sanghyuk hadn’t seen her since she had left for Seoul to attend University. Minah wraps her arms around him with a laugh.

“Sanghyukkie! I missed you!” She cries, tightening her hug.  Yes, there’s that familiar warmth Sanghyuk always had about him.

“God, it’s been too long!” He spins her around, admiring the dress she was clad in before pulling her into another hug “Clearly university did you good! Let me get your suitcase! We’ll head to my place after dinner,” he chirps, picking up the small piece of luggage by her foot “Haneul is besides herself because she was going to leave the spare room for you but Taekwoon turned up for the weekend. You remember Taekwoon right?” Sanghyuk speaks rapidly, almost like he is trying to bring her up to speed in an instant.

Minah pauses, as much as she intends on following Sanghyuk in, there is a brief moment of hesitance that plagues her. Was she really ready to meet Taekwoon again? Even though there was a good four years between what had happened?

She steels herself, comforted by Sanghyuk’s smile as she follows him in to hear the loud welcomes from Jaehwan, Wonshik, and Haneul. Smiling, she greets them, happy as they surround her in their loud warmth. People come in from the other rooms, some familiar, some who she can’t seem to recognize at all.

“This is what I call a glow up!” Jaehwan declares as Haneul squeals in approval before tackling her into an enthusiastic hug and whispering lowly in her ear.

“I’m so sorry about this whole mess up. I know you were supposed to stay here, but Taekwoon turned up today and it’s all messy. I hope you don’t mind staying at Hyukkie’s.”

Minah shakes her head before turning to greet Hongbin who had just sauntered in with a drink in hand . He grins widely, ruffling her hair “I was going to tell you that I was moving to Seoul! We should definitely catch up there as well.”

“Of course, just message me and I will be at your service,” Minah grins back, bowing with a flourish making Wonshik squeal and tackle her into a hug. Minah laughs, Wonshik had been her brother figure for as long as she could remember, cooing and protecting her in the playground as they all played together.

“All right all right, no more crowding my best friend!” Haneul swats the crowd of people around Minah, grabbing her hand, Haneul pulls her in the general direction of the living room as she loudly announced “I’ve just gotten all the food in the living room, so we can all just sit there and eat whatever.”

Minah finds herself sitting in the floor, stomach full and feeling rather exhausted after having helped Haneul distribute the food and eating a large portion of it. She sighs, leaning against the sofa on which Sanghyuk, Hongbin, and Wonshik are seated. Sleepily, she rests her head on Sanghyuk’s knee as his large hand places itself on top her head, finger’s uncoiling the curls and watching them spring back with sleepy eyes.  She smiles at him and receives a soft grin in response. It’s warm and comfortable. There is a sudden shiver that runs up her spine when she feels a pair of eyes fix themselves on her. It’s the same gaze that made her skin burn every time.

“Taekwoon you’re late!” Haneul complains, ignoring her brother’s gaze fixed on the spot right near the sofa. The spot occupied by Minah who looks back at him. Minah gulps as Taekwoon’s gaze penetrates her, looking straight into her soul. It was the same gaze that had fixed her in place all those years ago in the coat closet of the same house they were in right then.

“Good to see you again, Minah.”

The same voice which had whispered into the silence of the closet “what do we have to lose?”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in the past

Sloppy. Hungry. Intoxicating. Taekwoon’s kiss consumed her as he fisted the frizz that was her hair. Somewhere in the midst of it, she could hear Haneul screaming outside the closet that she had locked them in. His awkward long limbs pressed against her fifteen year old body and Minah could feel herself burning under his touch. This, this was what it felt like to be held and it was an addictive feeling. Taekwoon’s parted lips against her own moved wetly as the scent of moth balls and fabric softener and Axe deodorant overwhelmed her. She kissed back, trying to keep up, damp breaths mingling as they furiously tried to fill a void that had somehow formed in their depths.

Minah was kissing her best friend’s awkward seventeen year old brother. The same lanky person who turned up with his bowl cut to pick his sister up from cheerleading practice. The same midfielder on the soccer team that no one even looked at. The soft voiced nobody, but a nobody just like her was consuming her whole because his sister wanted him to.

Because two awkward nobodies had nothing to lose.

Taekwoon could feel his brain go fuzzy as she reached up to cup his rounded cheeks, lips parting and tongue curling towards his hesitantly. He pressed her against the wooden panelling of his own home’s coat closet, feeling a jolt going through his system as his teeth sank down into her lower lip. He barely knew her, except for the fact that she was his sister’s friend who was loud and bossy, not well known for much except the bush she had for hair which was right now tight in his vice-like grip. His hips jerked when he heard a soft sound leave her over the pounding music of the party outside.

His sister’s party. Haneul had forced them both into the closet with some odd glee, claiming that they had gotten each other for some seven minutes something that he could barely remember.

“Maybe you guys will finally get your first kisses then!” Haneul had giggled, clicking the lock shut.

“Give them some extra time, they’ll probably just sit there and not talk!” Jaehwan, Haneul’s boyfriend had yelled over the din, dropping a kiss on her neck as Taekwoon glared at him. He had tried all evening to avoid this party that Haneul had thrown since their parents were out of town, but the need for food had been too much for him to stay locked up in his room for too long. Somehow he was locked in a closet with another girl, awkward limbs, baby fat hovering between existing and not, teeth a little too big, hair a little too bushy, and completely and entirely not sure about herself.  Taekwoon knew that feeling a little too well.

Somehow conversation had spilled very quickly into insecurities. It wasn’t difficult in the space, given the circumstances. They both knew that a shot at love was out of the question, not with the way they were. But they craved, they craved so much. They had wondered what it was, to be loved; to be attractive. He remembered her looking at him, her eyes focusing on the fringe of his hair making him feel extremely conscious of it. Haneul yelled from the outside that they had been there for ten minutes and they were being given an extra five because Wonshik had broken a vase and she needed to do some damage control.

“We don’t need to kiss if you don’t want to…” Minah had hurriedly whispered, still standing across him in the closet.

“Maybe we should…I mean, ” Taekwoon’s mouth had worked faster than his brain. Eyes taking in her confusion as he met her gaze as he had breathed into the silence “what do we have to lose?”

Her hesitant nod was what had made him approach slowly. This was going to be one time, for the both of them, just to know what it felt like. They had no feelings for each other, let alone even the remotest attraction. No one did, so maybe this once, they could try.

Yet his lips against hers made his hormones flare, it was meant to be a soft peck and a quick apology. But his brain short circuited when he felt how pliant her lips were, and somehow, he found himself craving for more. There they were, chasing each other’s lips, tongues curling around each other’s like it was the most natural thing on the planet. Everything about it made him burn.

They parted, exhaling heavily. Minah looked up at him hesitantly. His chin looked squashed, his eyes too small but heavy and dark, his cheeks were still childish, but his lips were swollen as he leaned down again and the door flew open, their teeth clacked painfully, making them draw away from each other in pain.

“Ouch, you guys did it wrong,” Jaehwan grimaced “in fifteen minutes, ya’ll just managed to bang your teeth together?”

“What did you expect?” Wonshik chuckled, bandaids all over his fingers. Minah’s eyes bore into the ground before meeting Taekwoon’s gaze. There was no emotion in his eyes as he backed away from her and stepped out of the closet, disappearing into the crowd.

“I mostly expected that the two of you would shut the fuck up and shit, but clearly that isn’t a thing,” Sanghyuk’s voice drawled in from behind Wonshik as he stepped into the closet and caught Minah’s wrist before leading her out. She looked up to see Haneul shooting her an apologetic looking, following Sanghyuk and her.

“We’re going to talk about this tonight. I promise.” Haneul said as Minah shook her head.

“Let’s…just forget about it. Nothing really happened.”

“Are you…” Haneul began as Minah looked back at her before shifting her gaze to the party, she spotted Taekwoon and Hakyeon (Sanghyuk’s crush) dancing on the side, making her purse her lips. Clearly this was meant to be a one time thing. Turning back to Haneul, she replied firmly.

“Nothing happened. We tried to get into the spirit of the game, it didn’t work. That’s all. You should head back and be the hostess. I have Hyukkie for company.” she said nudging the man with her head. Haneul shot her a look as Minah shook her head and urged her to head back to the games.

“I was planning on leaving,” Sanghyuk shrugged when Haneul had left, his eyes scanning the party for the closest exist. He froze when he spotted Hakyeon in the crowd of dancing bodies and Minah had to hold back her laughter. No matter what had happened in the darkness of the closet, it was a matter that would never leave it. Right now, Sanghyuk’s love life was at stake.

“I’m not sure you want to leave anymore now,” she smiled, wiggling her eyebrows at Sanghyuk who glared at her “I still can’t believe he’s so oblivious around you though. You’re always heart eyes around him.”

“I hope you choke,” Sanghyuk nudged her, narrowing his eyes at her.

“You mean you’d want to choke on…”

“Will you shut up!” Sanghyuk frantically waved at her, trying to cover her mouth. Minah nudged him towards Hakyeon, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively sending Sanghyuk into further panic mode.

“Go dance with him you loser. Put all those damn dance lessons to use. Maybe it’ll be like those odd bird mating rituals.”

“Sometimes, I wish I didn’t know you,” Sanghyuk sighed which unfortunately was impossible since they had been neighbours since they were born. He found himself being shoved in the general direction of Hakyeon by his friend and felt thoroughly betrayed but stood his ground.

“I’m not abandoning you.”

“Like you did in the beginning of the party because Hongbin had games?” Minah frowned. Sanghyuk and she had arrived to the party together but somehow got swept away by Hongbin and Haneul. Minah was in a closet and Sanghyuk had followed Hongbin to the gaming console setup in the living room.

“I’m sorry, but you got dragged away by Haneul!” Sanghyuk whined back.

“Would you please go and dance with Hakyeon, it would give me great happiness.” Minah waved and pushed Sanghyuk again and he sighed,ruffling her hair,  before shooting her a look and joining the dancing crowd.

Minah bit her lip, making a beeline for the door, she needed to be with her thoughts and that would never happen in this din. She could walk back home in the cold so she could clear her mind and maybe stop how her body burned at the very thought of what had happened back in the closet. Maybe she could blame it on the hormones and call it a day. But right now, she needed to get out of that house and soon.

Taekwoon watched over the crowd as Minah reached for the door and vanished into the darkness of the night.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in the present

Haneul smiled watched Jaehwan curl up next to Wonshik. Her eyes shifted around the room to fix themselves on Hongbin who idly gazed at Taekwoon’s entry who seemed to be staring at Minah resting her head on Sanghyuk’s knee. 

“Hey,” she spun around to see Hakyeon shooting her a sheepish grin “I may have tagged along with Taekwoon...if that’s alright.” he mumbled as she shook her head.

“Nah, it’s chill, help yourself to dinner.” she waved to the room, as Hakyeon peered in, momentarily freezing before clearing his throat.

“Are you sure that its okay for me to be here?” he questioned, eyes on Sanghyuk and a vaguely familiar woman resting by him, Hakyeon noted the way Sanghyuk coiled her hair between his fingers. 

“Yeah, I’m sure, Hakyeon. It’s been so long since you’ve dropped by. I’m sure they missed you too.” Haneul chirped, nuding him into the room. He bit down on his lip as he edged into the space. He peeked up at the man again. Sanghyuk’s features had sharpened, his large frame more muscular than the last time he had seen him, hair falling softly over his forehead, large hand placed atop the woman’s head.  Trying to nudge past Taekwoon, who seemed to be rooted in his spot, he felt Sanghyuk’s gaze follow him, making him gulp.

Reunions where Sanghyuk was present were always difficult. 

“Hakyeonie! You haven’t come by in months! How are things going on your end?” Jaehwan piped up, breaking the tense silence in the room, making Minah blink, dropping her gaze from Taekwoon and meeting Sanghyuk’s instead, giving his calf a gentle squeeze. Sanghyuk sat in his spot, unmoved, nodding to Taekwoon in greeting.

“It’s been a while Hakyeon,” Minah whispered as Hakyeon whirled towards her.

“Minah? Oh, I didn’t recognize you at all!” he smiled, “uh, yeah, it has!” he added, trying to grab as much food as he could before turning to Taekwoon “Woon, aren’t you eating?”

Taekwoon seemed to still be looking at Minah. He hummed thoughtfully before Haneul nudged him over to the food.

“Could you stop thinking about work and eat something?” she grumbled, watching Wonshik standing up to start a conversation with Hakyeon whilst Hongbin joined in before getting distracted by a stray floating napkin which he chased down to dump in the trash. Haneul took a seat beside Minah.

“Finally,” she sighed leaning back against the couch lazily “everyone’s here…” she sighed out, stretching and yawning. Sanghyuk shot a look at her, eyes travelling to Hakyeon for a millisecond before turning back to Minah who looked dazed.

“Tired?” he asked, caressing the top of her head fondly as she shuddered slightly, her eyes refocusing. 

“Just a little bit…how are you holding up?” she sighed, patting Haneul’s hand as the latter grinned at her.

“Fairly well, I’m enjoying work...but I plan on quitting and getting back to studying. So I’ll probably move to Seoul.”

“With Hongbin?” Sanghyuk asked as she frowned.

“Probably not at the same time, why?”

“I was just asking…didn’t want you to be alone.” Sanghyuk shrugged as Haneul shook her head. 

"I did well for the last two years.” 

Haneul hadn’t dated anyone since her third year of college. Her break up with Jaehwan had been amicable, the spark had long died out...after all they weren’t high school children running high on hormones anymore. It had been tough for certain, they had been together for nearly six years, they knew each other’s ins and outs. But, things weren’t meant to stay in stagnation and Jaehwan had finally come to terms with how he felt.

She smiled at Jaehwan, he was her best friend even after everything, they still loved each other very dearly. He smiled back at her before clearing his throat, calling for the attention of everyone in the room.

“So...well, everyone is here...and uh...this is awkward…” he began, “I just...well...Wonshik and I…”

“We’re engaged. We’re getting married next summer.” Wonshik concluded, eyes looking around hesitantly for a reaction.

Silence filled the room for a moment before it exploded into loud congratulations from the group. Suddenly, the awkwardness that had initially filled the room was broken as the group swarmed the couple with hugs, kisses, and good wishes. Haneul felt a squeeze on her arm as she stood away, waiting for the group to move so she could offer her congratulations. Hongbin brushed past her to tackle Wonshik into a hug.

Sanghyuk's hand brushed Hakyeon's and Hakyeon could feel the burning of his cheeks at the way Sanghyuk towered over him. But it was the blank look in his eyes that made Hakyeon cower just a little as the younger turned his gaze to Minah, eyes much warmer as he headed back to the couch. Minah smiled at Hakyeon.

Minah had changed from the last time Taekwoon had seen her. Her hair reached her waist now, her body dipped and curved in places where they never had done before, her limbs were shapely, lithe. Her skin looked soft, smooth, unblemished. She held herself with poise, lips tinted a deep wine shade moved with confidence as she addressed Hakyeon. They were fuller now, he mused. The little indents on her nose from her glasses still remained, but her glasses weren’t perched on her nose anymore affording him a sight of the raised bridge. Minah’s flat nose was no longer flat. 

But her eyes were still the same, narrow, fiery, yet warm. Taekwoon sighed heavily. He still wondered where things had gone south. Sure, it had spiralled out of control, but it wasn’t like they had fought. It just ended almost the same way it had begun, she suggested it out of nowhere and vanished into the wind.

“Oh, oh! What was your first fight about? We all know the first time you guys told each other that you loved each other!” Sanghyuk chirped from his seat at Jaehwan who looked sheepishly at the floor. Taekwoon snapped his gaze away from Minah’s lips before fixing it on Haneul who bit her lip, holding back her laughter. He had to admit, when it came to relationships, Haneul was the mature one.

“Well…” Jaehwan began “it was in an awkward position…”

"Spicy,” Hongbin commented, taking a sip of his drink as he hip bumped a chuckling Haneul “what kinda position?”

Jaehwan cringed at the thought as Wonshik looked like he wanted to dig a hole a bury himself.

“Uh…”

“Clearly a compromising one,” Sanghyuk chuckled “why would you argue in the middle of sex?” he prodded and Jaehwan looked like the one who wanted to bolt out of the door.

“...he said that Butt was cuter than me…”

“I didn’t say it! I just said that he was cute!”

“While I had your dick in my mouth!” Jaehwan grumbled back and Hakyeon had to intervene with a “too much information!”  before the debate got heated up. The room burst into laughter as Jaehwan grumbled and pouted prompting Wonshik to hug him and apologize.

Taekwoon cringed at the thought of it, his gaze turning back to Minah who had appeared to have finished her pleasantries with Hakyeon and was head back towards the couch to take a seat on the floor. She had a sway to her hips, her dark tendrils of hair bouncing with every movement as she approached the crowded seat. He watched as Sanghyuk held his hand out to take hers, his large hand nearly engulfing hers as he pulled her nearly onto his lap and half on the couch to give her a comfortable seat. There was a twinge in his belly when she lazily rested against Sanghyuk’s shoulder, legs carelessly swung over his. Taekwoon squinted at the grey upholstery of the piece of furniture as she rested against it, eyes drooping. The twinge in his belly was stronger, something felt terribly nostalgic about the image. 

 It was then that Taekwoon began piecing the puzzle of his memories together.


End file.
